Coffee Recipes

I had prepared this very flavorful sauce for the Polar Production Team last week as a thank you for bearing with me during the long, sleepless hours of filming my first cooking series. On the last day, I packed a meal for each member revolving around my favorite insomniac's ingredient: coffee, of course!

I seared beautiful rib-eye steaks and paired them with a mushroom coffee sauce. The beef was such good quality that salt and pepper could have been sufficient but I jazzed it up with espresso coffee and flavored the sauce with the velvety, dark elixir.

This week has gone by so fast. And it's already that time of the week when I share another dessert recipe with you. I prepared a French dessert I make often during the winter season because it doesn't require any fruit. I simply raided my pantry and used vanilla beans, instant coffee and Kahlúa, which is a coffee-flavored, rum-based liqueur. Yes, you probably already guessed it; I prepared pot de creme.

I love how easy and simple they are to make. The texture is velvety and lightly sweetened. In my opinion, pots de crème are the quintessential representation of decadence one can find in French desserts.

This delicious, summery salad makes good use of fresh, crisp ingredients. I also added red quinoa, avocado, fresh mozzarella cheese, fried tofu and chicken pieces to complete the nutritious salad. To put it over the top, I drizzled the salad with an incredible lemon and coffee-flavored vinaigrette.

I was inspired to make the dressing by our trip to Italy two years ago. While on our vacation, we had the opportunity to try spiced citrus coffee. It was absolutely terrific and fairly commonplace; similar flavor combinations can be seen in many coffee cakes and biscotti cookies. I was able to recreate the flavors found in these Italian dishes using Boyajian coffee vinegar and pure lemon oil. I also added extra lemon zest to brighten the vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette itself would also make an excellent marinade for chicken, steaks or root vegetables.

Baby Aria is very similar to my husband Lulu when it comes to her favorite foods. She loves vegetables and she adores sweets. Today I experimented with a batch of cookies I usually make when we have guests over for tea: thumbprint cookies. They're so pretty, especially with the crackle effect on the shortbread cookie dough and the whimsical design in the center indentation that almost resembles a crazy eye.

I flavored the cookie dough with cocoa powder and mocha paste. I filled them with vanilla chips and a drizzle of bittersweet chocolate, which came out just as great. Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to sharing recipes next week in anticipation of Cinco de Mayo!